Karna Parva — The general encounter of several heroes

Sanjaya said O great monarch, the king Duryodhana himself received, without any fear, was Yudhishthira, who then shooting innumerable shafts (at his antagonists).

Then Yudhishthira, the righteous, after having quickly penetrated your son, that mighty car-warrior, who was all on a sudden proceeding against him, addressed him, saying-wait, wait.

Then he (Duryodhana), indeed, who became highly enraged, penetrated him (Yudhishthira) in return with nine whetted arrows and again, afflicted his charioteer most dreadfully by means of his broad-headed shafts.

Thereupon king Yudhishthira shot at Duryodhana thirteen keen arrows, that were furnished with the wings made of gold, sharpened on a stone.

Then that powerful car-warrior, having slaughtered his (Duryodhana's) four horses with four arrows, with the fifth severed the head of his charioteer from his body.

Thereafter he smote down the king's standard with the sixth arrows, his bow with the seventh and his sword with the eighth, upon the ground.

The most righteous king crushed most severely the Kuru monarch with five other arrows. At this, your son, descending from his car, that had its horses all slain, became subject to the greatest danger and stayed upon the field.

After beholding him thus fallen into imminent danger, Karna, the son of Drona, Kripa and other heroes all on a sudden proceeded towards him with the desire of saving that ruler of men.

Thereupon, O monarch, all other sons of Pandu, collected round Yudhishthira and rushed forth at that battle, whereupon a great encounter took place.

Thereupon in that dreadful battle thousands of trumpets were beaten; and after this, O mighty lord earth, a mixed noise, consisting of numerous voices, arose there (in the battle).

In that part of the battle, where the Panchalas encountered the Kaurava divisions, the inen came against the foremost of elephants. The car-warriors encountered the car-warriors and horsemen with horsemen.

Thus, O great monarch, several kinds of unthought encounters took place between heroes armed with the best of weapons, which were most beautiful to look at upon the field.

Those heroic warriors, who were possessed of great force and who also were willing to kill one another, continued to battle most excellently and with great lightness of hands and skill.

Indeed, those heroes, strictly observed the vow of warriors and slaughtered each other in the battle; but they not at all fought from each other's back.

But that battle looked only for a while most excellent. Thereupon, monarch, the encounter look a very mad turn, in which all became regardless of one another.

Then the car-warrior, rushing against the elephant, pierced him with sharp arrows and led him towards the abode of Death by means of his straight shafts.

Thereafter the elephants coming before the horses, hurled a large number of them in the battle and deeply pierced them in the different directions of the field.

Then numerous horsemen, after having encompassed the best of horses created a very sweet noise with their palms and then fell down upon them. The horsemen, again, slaughtered those horses, that were running away from the field, as well as the mighty elephants, that also were roving in the battle, both from behind them and from the sides.

O monarch, the most furious elephants, after having crushed large numbers of horses to run away from the field, slaughtered some of them with their tusks and crushed down others most severely.

Thereupon some of the elephants pierced numerous horses along with their riders with great wrath; while others, again, that were possessed of extraordinary strength, seized them and dragged them down upon the ground with great force.

The elephants, struck from all sides in the different vital parts by the foot-soldiers, uttered very dreadful cries of pain and ran away towards the ten points of the compass.

Many of the foot-soldiers, who were all on sudden running away in that dreadful battle, leaving behind their ornaments, immediately hemmed in upon the field. Then, indeed, the most powerful elephant-warriors, having considered the indications of victory, caused their elephants to take up those handsome ornaments and penetrate the fallen warriors with their tusks.

Then also the foot-soldiers, that were possessed of immense force and endued with extraordinary strength, after having encircled those riders of elephants, who wee engaged in the massacre there (in the battle), slaughtered them.

In that dreadful battle, others were hurled up into the atmosphere by the elephants with their trunks; and while falling down they were were deeply pierced by those well-trained beasts with the points of their tusks.

Other foot-soldiers were deprived of their lives with the tusks of the elephants, that had suddenly seized them and some, again, O great monarch, who had been thrown into the midst of other soldiers, were cut-off into pieces by those huge elephants, after they had rolled them over and over again upon the ground. And others also, that were tossed in the air like the fans, were slaughtered in the battle.

O ruler of earth, those (of the foot-soldiers), who stood in front of other elephants, had their bodies deeply penetrated (by the elephants) on all sides of the field of battle.

Many other elephants were very severely struck in their cheeks, the frontal globs and the parts between their tusks with spears, lances and shafts, called Shakti.

Moreover some other elephants, that were fearfully wounded by the most formidable warriors, posted on their sides, as well as by the car-warriors and horse-men, being cut-off by them, fell down upon the ground.

There in that dreadful battle, nur.erous horsemen had all on a sudden struck down with great violence upon the field the foot-soldiers, that had their arrows on, by means of their lances.

So also, O ruler of earth, O sire, the mighty elephants, having advanced before some of the car-warriors, that had their armours on and also having seized them well dragged them down most suddenly on all sides of that dreadful field of battle, that presented a very awful aspect. Many mightiest clephants, that were slaughtered with the shafts, fell down upon the ground even as the summits of a mountain drop down upon the surface of the earth, when broken down by thunder.

In that battle, the warriors, battling with their combatants, struck them with their fists; and having dragged cach other with their hairs, hurled down and cut-off each other.

Some other combatants, having stretched their arms, hurled down their antagonists upon the ground, placed their feet upon their breasts and with great pleasure severed their heads.

Some one of the combatants, O great king, smote down with his feet the dead antagonist; while some other, O monarch, severed the head of a falling enemy by means of his scimitar; and while some other combatant, again, directed his weapon at the body of another, who was still living.

Thus, O descendant of the Bharata race, the inost dreadful encounters between heroes took place there, some striking one another with their fists, and some also fiercely seizing one another with their hairs; and some, again, wrestling with another with their arms most fearfully.

Under various circumstances, some one of the combatants deprived the lives of many in the battle, who were engaged with others and were quite unconscious of the slaughter by means of several sorts of weapons.

In that general encounter, while the warriors were engaged in the battle and continued to be mangled, hundreds and thousands of headless bodies of the fallen warriors) stood upon the field.

Diverse kinds of weapons and armours, that were drenched in blood, blazed forth like pieces of cloth, that are dyed with deep red.

Thus this most dreadful and extraordinary battle, that was characterised by a confused din of diverse kinds of weapons, filled the entire universe with a noise even as the furious Ganges fills the earth with the roar of her currents.

O monarch, the combatants, being highly oppressed the shafts, could not make out their friends from the antagonists and the assembled princes, who were all very desirous of victory, continued to battle, considering (the fact), that they should fight.

O great monarch, the warriors began to slaughter both the friends and foes, who had assembled in that dreadful battle; and the warriors, belonging to both the forces, were rendered restless by the heroes, who engaged them.

Within a very short time, the earth, that was covered with a mire consisting of flesh and blood and also by which the currents of blood flowed continuously, became, O lord of earth, impassable with the shattered cars and with the fallen elephants and the horses lying there about and also with men slaughtered (in the battle), O great monarch.

So Karna slaughtered the Panchala warriors and Dhananjaya slew the Kuru troops along with all their elephant forces.

Thus the great destruction had taken place of all the forces of both the Kuru and Pandavas. Both the parties were most desirous of gaining fame, when the sun had passed the other side of meridian.